BTW, my first mac was the mac SE/20MB HD with black and white screen still in the 80's, so that would put me in the early adopters group?

We could have a whole discussion just on this topic. I like to think of it as a bell curve, so it would vary with each product and how fast it is adopted. I am usually average to late adopter, depending on circumstances. I was late on the Mac because I needed an IBM for a computer science course, and the IBM was good enough for a while.

ive followed this thread from the start... ive seen some WILD claims from people, some sanity from the same people...

early on i cared...

since about page 20-30 its just been entertainment

-----
addabox

//you've got someone who is on one side with some balance, and someone who is on the other side with complete fanaticism, and it makes it appear as if the first party is more partisan than they actually are, if only because the temptation is strong to poke some holes in a fanatics relentlessness. //

so if the fanatic is RIGHT in the end, does that make them more or less valid than the "non" fanatic from the opposing side?

ive been OH so tempted to get an xbox... but the THOUGHT of giving M$ money makes me ill, if that makes me a fanatic then im fine with that

i guess you shouldnt wish your life away, but next year looks to be VERY interesting, and im gonna be looking forward to a PS3 launch over here, and all the apple goodness

mmm xmas... im overwhelmed... over weight... and overdrawn

I don't think it has much to do with being "right" either way. I was just commenting on the dynamic of the thread.

They spoke of the sayings and doings of their commander, the grand duke, and told stories of his kindness and irascibility.

BTW, my prediction on BD hardware is coming true. There's good and bad news for Sony, but mostly bad news for the BD movie business. Good news is that PS3 is the most popular BD player right now. The bad news is PS3 is taking the BD hardware sales from other BD hardware supports. The PS3 installed base as a BD player is still small, but CE BD player shares have shrunken even smaller, which started significantly behind HD-DVD player installed base numbers. Well, I didn't think it would be this apparent this early in the game, but the sooner the format war ends the better. As I said before, CES 2007 will be the ultimate last flash of the BD movie market. Once again, Sony gets desparate and Sony kills off all their allies for it's own survival ending in the exact outcome of the prisoner's dilemma.

Now that I see the HD-DVD player stacked with the 360 I kinda wonder what the heck MS was thinking. That's really dumb looking.

Meh...I think I'm joining the 360 camp though. I sure as heck isn't for HD but because Bioware is making Mass Effect. There isn't a PS3 must have title for me at the moment. I'm also hoping for a Jade Empire 2 and that'd likely be a 360 title only too. But I won't bother until those games come out.

BTW, my prediction on BD hardware is coming true. There's good and bad news for Sony, but mostly bad news for the BD movie business. Good news is that PS3 is the most popular BD player right now. The bad news is PS3 is taking the BD hardware sales from other BD hardware supports. The PS3 installed base as a BD player is still small, but CE BD player shares have shrunken even smaller, which started significantly behind HD-DVD player installed base numbers. Well, I didn't think it would be this apparent this early in the game, but the sooner the format war ends the better. As I said before, CES 2007 will be the ultimate last flash of the BD movie market. Once again, Sony gets desparate and Sony kills off all their allies for it's own survival ending in the exact outcome of the prisoner's dilemma.

I don't see any way that your link supports your conclusion, did you link to the wrong place or something?

Blu-ray can't lose, the best you can hope for is a tie. There is no way that computers will end up using a 30 Gig HD-DVD drive if a 50 gig (or 200 gig) blu-ray drive is available, and its not like the PS3 will switch back to DVD or something.

I don't see any way that your link supports your conclusion, did you link to the wrong place or something?

Blu-ray can't lose, the best you can hope for is a tie. There is no way that computers will end up using a 30 Gig HD-DVD drive if a 50 gig (or 200 gig) blu-ray drive is available, and its not like the PS3 will switch back to DVD or something.

I hope I don't have to explain to you what HTPC is.... I'm sure you can also have BD/HD-DVD as storage solution with your HTPC in the future, but I'm pointing out that anyone with HTPC can add HD-DVD movie playback feature for just $200 or less. When a technical website like anandtech writes an article regarding HTPC with HD-DVD playback using xbox360 add on, it's a free advertisement for getting the word out for those who have not yet thought about xbox360 hd-dvd add on as HD-DVD rom drive for a HTPC as well as xbox360 owners.

You'll also be able to use xbox360 hd-dvd add on with your macs too when apple starts shipping new models with hdcp complaint gpu. If apple lacks support, then you can always use bootcamp.

I hope I don't have to explain to you what HTPC is.... I'm sure you can also have BD/HD-DVD as storage solution with your HTPC in the future, but I'm pointing out that anyone with HTPC can add HD-DVD movie playback feature for just $200 or less. When a technical website like anandtech writes an article regarding HTPC with HD-DVD playback using xbox360 add on, it's a free advertisement for getting the word out for those who have not yet thought about xbox360 hd-dvd add on as HD-DVD rom drive for a HTPC as well as xbox360 owners.

You'll also be able to use xbox360 hd-dvd add on with your macs too when apple starts shipping new models with hdcp complaint gpu. If apple lacks support, then you can always use bootcamp.

I hope I don't have to explain to you what HTPC is.... I'm sure you can also have BD/HD-DVD as storage solution with your HTPC in the future, but I'm pointing out that anyone with HTPC can add HD-DVD movie playback feature for just $200 or less. When a technical website like anandtech writes an article regarding HTPC with HD-DVD playback using xbox360 add on, it's a free advertisement for getting the word out for those who have not yet thought about xbox360 hd-dvd add on as HD-DVD rom drive for a HTPC as well as xbox360 owners.

You'll also be able to use xbox360 hd-dvd add on with your macs too when apple starts shipping new models with hdcp complaint gpu. If apple lacks support, then you can always use bootcamp.

That's great, but the article hardly supports your outrageous claim that somehow the war has been lost by Blu-ray. If anything, Blu-ray has been slowly and surely garnering momentum this holiday seaon seeing how Blu-ray players now outnumber HD DVD players now 5 to 1 just in terms of consoles--not even counting the players from Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, and Sony.

That's great, but the article hardly supports your outrageous claim that somehow the war has been lost by Blu-ray. If anything, Blu-ray has been slowly and surely garnering momentum this holiday seaon seeing how Blu-ray players now outnumber HD DVD players now 5 to 1 just in terms of consoles--not even counting the players from Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, and Sony.

That's great, but the article hardly supports your outrageous claim that somehow the war has been lost by Blu-ray. If anything, Blu-ray has been slowly and surely garnering momentum this holiday seaon seeing how Blu-ray players now outnumber HD DVD players now 5 to 1 just in terms of consoles--not even counting the players from Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, and Sony.

After reading the Cymfony review, I notice a few holes in the research, and how basic it would be to skew the results markedly. It wasn't a dispassionate review of the two formats at all as can be seen on page 4, but could instead have been viewed as a tirade against Sony. THis does detract somewhat from the legitimacy of the report.

I'm not sure how well the PS3 is going to do in the long run. Personally, I hope it does well, I want blu-ray to win and I would like to get a PS3 in the future. But, when I was at futureshop on Sunday, there were a few there and I could have easily picked one up. This was at 4 in the afternoon as well. In my opinion, it should be flying off the shelves still for it to have any sort of major success. I didn't think the price would be that big of a deal. Systems back in the day used to launch at similar prices.

Ironically, I was at futureshop to pick up the HD-DVD attachment for my 360. Now that I have it at home, I wonder if it was worth it. Futureshop seems to be pushing blu-ray more so and they are hard to come by locally. It isn't like I can even rent them at my local Blockbuster. So, now I am tempted to return it and get a WiFi adapter for some wireless live action.

The only folks that know what a Home Theater PC (HTPC) is are geeks from AVS. Most HTPCs are a pain in the ass (having owned/built several). The fact that you can get a HD-DVD drive for a "HTPC" or Media Center PC for $200 is a non-event. The market penetration might as well sit at zero in comparison to the number of XBoxes, 360s and PS3s that will be used in that media center role.

Having a 360 or iTV act as a MCE to a server with large drives makes HTPCs obsolete IMNSHO. I've been bleeding on uber-geek gear for a decade. Today I just want to hit play and NOT BLOODY TINKER.

Hence the desire for a Mac experience in HT.

Quote:

When a technical website like anandtech writes an article regarding HTPC with HD-DVD playback using xbox360 add on, it's a free advertisement for getting the word out for those who have not yet thought about xbox360 hd-dvd add on as HD-DVD rom drive for a HTPC as well as xbox360 owners.

Wake me when J6P starts doing this.

Quote:

You'll also be able to use xbox360 hd-dvd add on with your macs too when apple starts shipping new models with hdcp complaint gpu. If apple lacks support, then you can always use bootcamp.

At least there are some now. A year ago that number was zero. So if you have an older vid card your cost isn't $199 but $199+vid card w/HDCP. Some of those cards are still odd on playback...like HDCP on HDMI but not DVI or whatever. And the MSI NX7600GT is a real gem where it has HDCP on DVI but not HDMI. WTF?

The only older HTPC/MCPC with HDCP support are some Sony ones with custom NVidia cards.

The only folks that know what a Home Theater PC (HTPC) is are geeks from AVS. Most HTPCs are a pain in the ass (having owned/built several). The fact that you can get a HD-DVD drive for a "HTPC" or Media Center PC for $200 is a non-event. The market penetration might as well sit at zero in comparison to the number of XBoxes, 360s and PS3s that will be used in that media center role.

Having a 360 or iTV act as a MCE to a server with large drives makes HTPCs obsolete IMNSHO. I've been bleeding on uber-geek gear for a decade. Today I just want to hit play and NOT BLOODY TINKER.

Hence the desire for a Mac experience in HT.

Wake me when J6P starts doing this.

At least there are some now. A year ago that number was zero. So if you have an older vid card your cost isn't $199 but $199+vid card w/HDCP. Some of those cards are still odd on playback...like HDCP on HDMI but not DVI or whatever. And the MSI NX7600GT is a real gem where it has HDCP on DVI but not HDMI. WTF?

The only older HTPC/MCPC with HDCP support are some Sony ones with custom NVidia cards.

This is still uber-geek or guys with $$$ to pay uber-geek territory.

Vinea

Well.... I'm not sure when J6P will even engage in all this Hi-Def Home Movie market anytime soon, but HTPC who knows?.... Once BD & HD-DVD rom drives are preinstalled from the PC vendors like dell and apple, it maybe more popular and I don't think we're so far away. I would guess that within 18 months the optical rom drives to reach even more affordable prices. (Sharp?) just announced mass blue laser diode support for HD & BD, so the prices will drop soon enough. So, hopefully, we shall see cheaper $200 - $300 Hi-Def format players for the masses soon and the format that reaches the price range first will win. I'm betting my $$ on HD-DVD.

As for having HDCP complaint GPU, it's been available for more than last 6 months. Just need do some digging to get the right price. Anyway, it's gotten so cheap that the lowest price you could have gotten about a month ago was around $120. Below is the list provided by anandtech about a month ago, so price may have gotten even lower now.

when I was at futureshop on Sunday, there were a few there and I could have easily picked one up. This was at 4 in the afternoon as well. In my opinion, it should be flying off the shelves still for it to have any sort of major success. I didn't think the price would be that big of a deal. Systems back in the day used to launch at similar prices.

are you sure there were some there? or just boxes showing you that they carry the ps3? where exactly do you live cuz i've never heard of futureshop?

i mean i'm hearing that people cant get their hands on the Wii or the PS3 and yet some of you here claim that they sit on shelves? are you sure its just not the box showing you that they carry the system?

are you sure there were some there? or just boxes showing you that they carry the ps3? where exactly do you live cuz i've never heard of futureshop?

i mean i'm hearing that people cant get their hands on the Wii or the PS3 and yet some of you here claim that they sit on shelves? are you sure its just not the box showing you that they carry the system?

doesn't mean they have them

I have to agree. There is nowhere where PS3's can just sit on a shelf. They are obviously just display boxes.

First, when I walked in the front door there was a large ad saying the store received 17 units that day. Second, there were two boxes on display (not sure if they were actual units or not). But, when I was waiting for my HD-DVD drive I walked over to look at the PS3 section and an employee came over to me and asked me if I was interested in the PS3 because they had a few in stock. So no, it wasn't a mistake and I didn't just see empty display boxes. There were ACTUAL units in stock and I was quite suprised.

PS. Futureshop is a Canadian electronics store, basically Best Buy (since Best Buy purchased them a few years back).

CANOGA PARK, Calif. - Wicked Pictures has become the first adult video company to penetrate the HD-DVD market with its release of Jonathan Morgans slasher-movie spoof, Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre. The title is tentatively slated to ship on Friday.

Representatives from Wicked and authoring house Dimension DVD brought a check disc of the finished product to AVNs offices for a demonstration Monday afternoon. Boasting vivid color and detail, the anamorphic widescreen presentation showcases the unprecedented quality and interactivity of the HD format.

We started doing the preliminary work on this in March, said Jackie Ramos, vice president of DVD production for Wicked Pictures. We really started conceptualizing it before that point; we've been talking about going over to HD-DVD for over a year now. As soon as we heard that great strides were being made in the mainstream world with this format, weve always had our ear to the ground. There were a lot of hurdlesit was a lot more work than we thought. Ive heard through the grapevine that other companies have been ready to do this, but that when it came down to it, they werent ready for the technical problems that go along with it.

Wicked selected Camp Cuddly Pines as its first HD-DVD release based on the titles popularity. Morgan's feature won the AVN's Best Sex Comedy Award in 2006. We looked in our vault to see what we had as far as hi-definition, and Camp Cuddly Pines seemed like an obvious choice, Ramos said. Its been a very popular bestseller for us, and a lot of our newer stuff was still being edited when we started testing the new format. We asked Dimension for their opinion, and they agreed on Camp Cuddly -- when they had the encoding ready, we said, okay, lets roll with it.

One of the major hurdles that Wicked and Dimension encountered was the scripting of advanced content menus, which allow viewers to navigate options without interrupting the feature.

The functionality of the disc is the same quality as any mainstream product out there, said Dimension DVD President Daniel Milstein, who has worked closely with Ramos from the projects inception. We used the same exact encoder that the major mainstream studios useit took about two weeks to encode the feature, frame-by-frame. It takes a lot of processing power.

The first one is always the hardest, added Dimension VP Robert Brickman. Now that we know the procedure, well be able to do it faster the next time out.

According to Ramos, Wicked already has additional titles in the HD queue, including the AVN-nominated Curse Eternal. Were going to follow up with our other new releases after that, he said. Its been a long, hard road doing this; at times, it got tense. The leading edge of technology is a dangerous place to be sometimes. But were really happy with the outcome. When I took the check disc home and watched it on my plasma TV, I was amazed by the color and the definition. Its incredible.

Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre will be available at this Januarys AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. The HD-DVD package will also contain a standard-def DVD sampler with five sex scenes from Wicked releases including the aforementioned Curse Eternal, Sleeping Around, Brad Armstrongs F*** and Manhunters and Julia Ann Hardcore.

"While getting to the market first certainly is very exciting for us, it was more important to us that we put out a properly functioning disc, said Wicked Pictures President Steve Orenstein. Jackie has spent countless hours with Dimension DVD to make sure we release a quality product, and I think we have definitely succeeded."

I'm not really for watching hot chicas without their close off doing naughty things but some of you might like this.

He's a mod so he has a few extra vBulletin privileges. That doesn't mean he should stop posting or should start acting like Digital Jesus.- SolipsismX

(Sharp?) just announced mass blue laser diode support for HD & BD, so the prices will drop soon enough. So, hopefully, we shall see cheaper $200 - $300 Hi-Def format players for the masses soon and the format that reaches the price range first will win. I'm betting my $$ on HD-DVD.

What I find funny is that this announcement has been headined with "support for both HD DVD and BD" when nothing of that explicit nature has been stated that I've seen.

What has been stated is that production would begin with "about 150,000 diodes a month for use in DVD players" and that the "company plans to use some of the diodes for its own products but will sell most of them to other manufacturers."

So the question is who are these "other manufacturers." Well, seeing how Sharp is on the BDA's board of directors, plan on having a Blu-ray player early 2007, and have incentive to have Blu-ray win the format war with licensing $$$ at stake, I think one can logically deduce these "other manufacturers" will be Panasonic, Pioneer, LG, Samsung, and Philips for the most part and maybe some for Toshiba if any at all.

Just because they are used by both high def disc technologies, doesn't necessarily mean Sharp is intending to sell large quantities of the diode to the competition. Nice try to spin it though.

I'm not really for watching hot chicas without their close off doing naughty things but some of you might like this.

Many adult studios are supporting both...where does it state in the article that Wicked pictures will be HD DVD exclusive? Furthermore where did you get the link? Also, this is hardly a sign Blu-ray is losing adult films studio by studio...just more FUD from your friendly neighborhood FUDman IMO.

Many adult studios are supporting both...where does it state in the article that Wicked pictures will be HD DVD exclusive? Furthermore where did you get the link? Also, this is hardly a sign Blu-ray is losing adult films studio by studio...just more FUD from your friendly neighborhood FUDman IMO.

For small studios like those in the adult world, the technical problems of HD have been a bigger hurdle than anticipated. If those problems are worked out as expected/hoped, there may be 3-4 adult studios with HD DVD product available by the Jan. 10 Adult Video Show. With luck, the Adult Video of the Year may be available on HD DVD.

The Blu-Ray challenges appear to be structurally daunting. If no Blu-Ray titles are available at the show, the format battle, as far as the adult industry is concerned, may have been decided. Once consumers can get adult HD DVD titles, and early adult adopters make the HD DVD choice, those studios wont alienate their customers by switching formats and other studios will want the opportunity to sell to those consumers.

There will be demand for adult from PS3s owwners, but replication restrictions make it a very risky gamble for a single slice of the market. If there is an early base of HD DVD ownership, it would be a big question why an adult studio would take the leap to release in BD.

Nobody likes a format war. It's inconvenient and expensive. Wouldn't it be interesting if adult managed to avoid one?

Adult content only available in HD DVD could be as important for HD as it was for video cassettes and VHS. How many consumers would make a format choice based on their ability to get Jenna versus their ability to get Lawrence of Arabia?

CANOGA PARK, Calif. - Wicked Pictures has become the first adult video company to penetrate the HD-DVD market with its release of Jonathan Morgans slasher-movie spoof, Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre. The title is tentatively slated to ship on Friday.

Representatives from Wicked and authoring house Dimension DVD brought a check disc of the finished product to AVNs offices for a demonstration Monday afternoon. Boasting vivid color and detail, the anamorphic widescreen presentation showcases the unprecedented quality and interactivity of the HD format.

We started doing the preliminary work on this in March, said Jackie Ramos, vice president of DVD production for Wicked Pictures. We really started conceptualizing it before that point; we've been talking about going over to HD-DVD for over a year now. As soon as we heard that great strides were being made in the mainstream world with this format, weve always had our ear to the ground. There were a lot of hurdlesit was a lot more work than we thought. Ive heard through the grapevine that other companies have been ready to do this, but that when it came down to it, they werent ready for the technical problems that go along with it.

Wicked selected Camp Cuddly Pines as its first HD-DVD release based on the titles popularity. Morgan's feature won the AVN's Best Sex Comedy Award in 2006. We looked in our vault to see what we had as far as hi-definition, and Camp Cuddly Pines seemed like an obvious choice, Ramos said. Its been a very popular bestseller for us, and a lot of our newer stuff was still being edited when we started testing the new format. We asked Dimension for their opinion, and they agreed on Camp Cuddly -- when they had the encoding ready, we said, okay, lets roll with it.

One of the major hurdles that Wicked and Dimension encountered was the scripting of advanced content menus, which allow viewers to navigate options without interrupting the feature.

The functionality of the disc is the same quality as any mainstream product out there, said Dimension DVD President Daniel Milstein, who has worked closely with Ramos from the projects inception. We used the same exact encoder that the major mainstream studios useit took about two weeks to encode the feature, frame-by-frame. It takes a lot of processing power.

The first one is always the hardest, added Dimension VP Robert Brickman. Now that we know the procedure, well be able to do it faster the next time out.

According to Ramos, Wicked already has additional titles in the HD queue, including the AVN-nominated Curse Eternal. Were going to follow up with our other new releases after that, he said. Its been a long, hard road doing this; at times, it got tense. The leading edge of technology is a dangerous place to be sometimes. But were really happy with the outcome. When I took the check disc home and watched it on my plasma TV, I was amazed by the color and the definition. Its incredible.

Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre will be available at this Januarys AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. The HD-DVD package will also contain a standard-def DVD sampler with five sex scenes from Wicked releases including the aforementioned Curse Eternal, Sleeping Around, Brad Armstrongs FUCK and Manhunters and Julia Ann Hardcore.

"While getting to the market first certainly is very exciting for us, it was more important to us that we put out a properly functioning disc, said Wicked Pictures President Steve Orenstein. Jackie has spent countless hours with Dimension DVD to make sure we release a quality product, and I think we have definitely succeeded."

PWNED!

He's a mod so he has a few extra vBulletin privileges. That doesn't mean he should stop posting or should start acting like Digital Jesus.- SolipsismX

As CEO of Vivid Entertainment, the top adult film studio in the U.S. with stars such as Jenna Jameson, Hirsch could arguably decide the winner in the format war between Sony's Blu-ray and Toshiba's HD-DVD.

If Hirsch (and his fellow adult execs) choose one format over another, millions of adult fans might decide to buy that player and its high-def DVDs. The early explosion of sales could be enough to force the rival format out of business.

Think it can't happen? That very scenario played out in the 1980s when the adult world got behind VHS, leaving the Beta industry in the dust.

Vivid CEO Steve Hirsch

In an interview with TVPredictions.com, Hirsch, whose company generates $100 million in sales annually, says he doesn't believe in picking winners. However, he reveals that his studio's first high-def DVD will be on Blu-ray and not HD-DVD.

Dated November 10 2006.

Digital Background has stated that they will bve supporting only Blu-ray.

I look for Disney/Buena Vista and Lionsgate to deliver HD DVD movies in 2007 and when that happens the battle is over. People will gladly save money stick with HD DVD and wait for Fox, MGM and Sony to cave.

He's a mod so he has a few extra vBulletin privileges. That doesn't mean he should stop posting or should start acting like Digital Jesus.- SolipsismX

Thats unbelievable optimism considering the installed base for PS3 (ergo Blu Ray) now dwarfs HD-DVD, and is growing every minute. I will grant there are two different sectors of the market (movies and games), one of which can encroach on the other's (PS3 plays movies as well as games) while the X-Box 360 has a clunky add-on, and is like everything else microsoft has ever done - it works, but my god, how?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hmurchison

I think it's safe to say that Blu-ray will be for the most part done by summer 2007. You can quote me on this.

Maybe I will quote you on it, but probably to make a slightly different point than the one you had.

More interesting is that Apple has 2 products in the top 10...the Nano and Boot Camp. And Apple was the hardware company of the year (and Sony the worst). There's a smattering of both HD-DVD and BR devices on the list. More HD-DVD (and higher) and I think we can clearly say that HD-DVD won 2006 since the PS3 launched so late to have that much impact.

If HD-DVD wins XMas 2007 that's a different ball game. But I think we'll see the PS3's impact once volume increases. hmurchison is off his rocker. Even IF HD-DVD wins Xmas2007 Blu-Ray will limp on for years. By summer? Who the heck will know anything by summer? Nobody.

Anyone claiming victory right now is the same kind of person that claims victory because one team made a kickoff runback for a TD on their first possession. Nice when you can get it. Game winner? Uh...no. Right now this game is like 5 minutes into the 1st quarter. XMas 2007 is end of the half maybe. End of the quarter more likely.

It just seems longer because both teams have been talking smack pre-game.

8% of US console owners said they were likely to buy one in the coming year, compared with 28% of active gamers. Interest rose even more dramatically when asking those who currently play on a console, with 42% of PlayStation 2 owners, 55% of Xbox owners and 54% of GameCube owners indicating they were likely to buy a new console. 60% of those who own a PS2 and are considering a new console likely to buy a PS3, which exceeded the 45% of Xbox owners looking to buy an Xbox 360 and 46% of GameCube owners looking to buy a Wii

More interesting is that Apple has 2 products in the top 10...the Nano and Boot Camp. And Apple was the hardware company of the year (and Sony the worst). There's a smattering of both HD-DVD and BR devices on the list. More HD-DVD (and higher) and I think we can clearly say that HD-DVD won 2006 since the PS3 launched so late to have that much impact.

If HD-DVD wins XMas 2007 that's a different ball game. But I think we'll see the PS3's impact once volume increases. hmurchison is off his rocker. Even IF HD-DVD wins Xmas2007 Blu-Ray will limp on for years. By summer? Who the heck will know anything by summer? Nobody.

Anyone claiming victory right now is the same kind of person that claims victory because one team made a kickoff runback for a TD on their first possession. Nice when you can get it. Game winner? Uh...no. Right now this game is like 5 minutes into the 1st quarter. XMas 2007 is end of the half maybe. End of the quarter more likely.

It just seems longer because both teams have been talking smack pre-game.

Vinea

#5

5. Vista: Missing in Action

Microsoft put a moon-sized lump of coal in PC makers' stockings when it announced that consumer versions of Windows Vista would ship on January 30, 2007. While business customers can now download the oft-delayed OS, PCs with Vista preinstalled won't appear until after the 2006 holiday shopping season.

To appease angry hardware makers, Microsoft announced a voucher program that may or may not provide free upgrades to buyers of new PCs, depending on (a) who sold the system, (b) when it was purchased, (c) what version of XP came with it, and (d) which of the four different flavors of Vista they choose. (Got all that?) Then, of course, you'll have to upgrade the OS yourself. Hey, if it were easy, it wouldn't be Microsoft.

Big Mistake: Microsoft making a major OS upgrade as painful as humanly possible.

Bigger Mistake: Users not switching to Linux or the Mac when they had the chance.